System and Method for Transforming Tabular Form Date into Structured Document

1. A system for transforming, into a structured document, tabular form data arranged in rows, comprising: a computer; a definition data storage unit which stores definition data defining a rule used to transform tabular form data into a structured document, the definition data including a conditional repeat specifying description for specifying grouping of part of the rows which corresponds to a common item having a single value, the conditional repeat specifying description being provided with the common item as an attribute value for a condition for repetition, the definition data further including a portion into which the tabular form data is inserted as content of an element, the portion including a value insertion specifying description which specifies insertion of a value, the value insertion specifying description being made to correspond to an item name of an item included in the tabular form data; and a transformation unit configured to transform to-be-transformed tabular form data, designated by an external device, into a structured document in accordance with the definition data, the transformation unit transforming, by the computer, the tabular form data, with the part of the rows grouped as one group, and embedding a value of the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description, in a portion of the structured document specified by the value insertion specifying description; wherein: the definition data is formed of a structured document having a structure expressed using markup language tags; the conditional repeat specifying description is expressed by a first conditional repeat specifying tag, the conditional repeat specifying tag including a condition as an attribute name and the item name as an attribute value; and the value insertion specifying description is enclosed by a start tag and an end tag for an element, the element having an element name, the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description being set as the element name.

2. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a key list generation unit configured to generate a key list by parsing the definition data beginning with leading data contained therein, the key list containing items which are set as key names and serve as conditions specified by the conditional repeat specifying tag contained in the definition data; a key list storage unit which stores the key list; a sort unit which sorts the to-be-transformed tabular form data in order of the items in the key list; a tabular form data storage unit which stores the sorted tabular form data; a row data read unit which reads each row of the sorted tabular form data as to-be-transformed row data; a comparison unit configured to compare a value of each item of the key list with a value of a corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, beginning with a leading item of the key list, until it is detected that the value of an item of the key list is unequal to the value of the to-be-transformed row data; and a key list update unit which updates the value of each item of the key list into the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, wherein when the comparison unit determines that the value of the leading item of the key list is equal to the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, the transformation unit transforms the to-be-transformed row data into a new structured document portion, in accordance with an element nested within the conditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data corresponding to an item of the key list whose value is lastly determined equal, the new structured document portion being a portion subsequent to a lastly transformed structured document portion of the to-be-transformed row data, a portion of the new structured document portion which is specified by the value insertion specifying description being embedded with a value of the item name corresponding to the value insertion specifying description.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein: the definition data includes an unconditional repeat specifying tag without the condition for repetition; and the transformation unit transforms the to-be-transformed row data into a structured document portion of a new group, in accordance with an element nested within the unconditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data, when the comparison unit determines that the value of the leading item of the key list is unequal to the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, the structured document portion of the new group being a portion subsequent to a structured document portion of a preceding group, a portion of the structured document portion of the new group which is specified by the value insertion specifying description being embedded with a value of the item name corresponding to the value insertion specifying description.

4. The system according to claim 3 , wherein when the unconditional repeat specifying tag is a route tag of the structured document providing the definition data, the transformation unit transforms, in accordance with an element nested within the unconditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data, the to-be-transformed row data into a structured document portion included in a new structured document different from a structured document which includes the structured document portion of the preceding group.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein: the definition data includes a plurality of conditional repeat specifying tags including the first conditional repeat specifying tag; and the plurality of conditional repeat specifying tags are set in a nesting structure.

6. A method of transforming, into a structured document, tabular form data arranged in rows, comprising: storing, into a definition data storage unit, definition data defining a rule used to transform tabular form data into a structured document, the definition data including a conditional repeat specifying description for specifying grouping of part of the rows which corresponds to a common item having a single value, the conditional repeat specifying description being provided with the common item as an attribute value for a condition for repetition, the definition data further including a portion into which the tabular form data is inserted as content of an element, the portion including a value insertion specifying description which specifies insertion of a value, the value insertion specifying description being made to correspond to an item name of an item included in the tabular form data; storing, into a tabular form data storage unit, to-be-transformed tabular form data designated by an external device; and transforming, by a computer, the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into a structured document in accordance with the definition data, the transforming the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into the structured document including transforming the to-be-transformed tabular form data, with the part of the rows grouped as one group, and embedding a value of the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description, in a portion of the structured document specified by the value insertion specifying description; wherein: the definition data is formed of a structured document having a structure expressed using markup language tags; the conditional repeat specifying description is expressed by a conditional repeat specifying tag, the conditional repeat specifying tag including a condition as an attribute name and the item name as an attribute value; and the value insertion specifying description is enclosed by a start tag and an end tag for an element, the element having an element name, the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description being set as the element name.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: generating a key list containing items which are set as key names and serve as conditions specified by the conditional repeat specifying tag contained in the definition data, the generating the key list including parsing the definition data beginning with leading data contained therein, and storing the key list into a key list storage unit; sorting the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, in order of the items in the key list; reading each row of the sorted tabular form data as to-be-transformed row data; comparing a value of each item of the key list with a value of a corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, beginning with a leading item of the key list, until it is detected that the value of an item of the key list is unequal to the value of the to-be-transformed row data; and updating the value of each item of the key list into the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, wherein the transforming the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into the structured document includes transforming the to-be-transformed row data into a new structured document portion in accordance with an element nested within the conditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data corresponding to an item of the key list whose value is lastly determined equal, when a result of the comparing indicates that the value of the leading item of the key list is equal to the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, the new structured document portion being a portion subsequent to a lastly transformed structured document portion of the to-be-transformed row data, a portion of the new structured document portion which is specified by the value insertion specifying description being embedded with a value of the item name corresponding to the value insertion specifying description.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein: the definition data includes an unconditional repeat specifying tag without the condition for repetition; and the transforming the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into the structured document includes transforming the to-be-transformed row data into a structured document portion of a new group in accordance with an element nested within the unconditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data, when a result of comparison indicates that the value of the leading item of the key list is unequal to the value of the corresponding item of the to-be-transformed row data, the structured document portion of the new group being a portion subsequent to a structured document portion of a preceding group, a portion of the new structured document portion which is specified by the value insertion specifying description being embedded with a value of the item name corresponding to the value insertion specifying description.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the transforming the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into the structured document includes transforming, in accordance with an element nested within the unconditional repeat specifying tag in the definition data, the to-be-transformed row data into a structured document portion included in a new structured document different from a structured document which includes the structured document portion of the preceding group, when the unconditional repeat specifying tag is a route tag of the structured document providing the definition data.

10. A computer program product having a non-transitory computer readable medium including programmed instructions for execution by a computer to transform, into a structured document, tabular form data arranged in rows, the computer including a definition data storage unit and a tabular form data storage unit, the computer program product comprising: computer-readable program code means for causing the computer to store, into the definition data storage unit, definition data defining a rule used to transform tabular form data into a structured document, the definition data including a conditional repeat specifying description for specifying grouping of part of the rows which corresponds to a common item having a single value, the conditional repeat specifying description being provided with the common item as an attribute value for a condition for repetition, the definition data further including a portion into which the tabular form data is inserted as content of an element, the portion including a value insertion specifying description which specifies insertion of a value, the value insertion specifying description being made to correspond to an item name of an item included in the tabular form data, wherein: the definition data is formed of a structured document having a structure expressed using markup language tags; the conditional repeat specifying description is expressed by a conditional repeat specifying tag, the conditional repeat specifying tag including a condition as an attribute name and the item name as an attribute value; and the value insertion specifying description is enclosed by a start tag and an end tag for an element, the element having an element name, the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description being set as the element name; computer-readable program code means for causing the computer to store, into the tabular form data storage unit, to-be-transformed tabular form data designated by an external device; and computer-readable program code means for causing the computer to transform the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into a structured document in accordance with the definition data, the causing the computer to transform the tabular form data, stored in the tabular form data storage unit, into the structured document including causing the computer to transform the to-be-transformed tabular form data, with the part of the rows grouped as one group, and causing the computer to embed a value of the item name made to correspond to the value insertion specifying description, in a portion of the structured document specified by the value insertion specifying description.